Erik Ten Hag rejects chaos theory as Manchester United get past Sheffield United

Erik ten Hag insisted his Manchester United side were always in control of Wednesday's Premier League match against Sheffield United despite twice needing to come from behind to beat their relegation-threatened opponents 4-2.

In another tumultuous Old Trafford encounter, Harry Maguire struck against his former team to cancel out Jayden Bogle’s 35th-minute opener but Ben Brereton Diaz again had the rock-bottom Blades in front early in the second half.

Bruno Fernandes then took over, scoring twice – once from the penalty spot – before creating another for Rasmus Hojlund.

But it would have been more food for thought for Ineos director of sport Dave Brailsford, who watched alongside United’s newly-appointed technical director Jason Wilcox.

United had 72% possession and 25 attempts at goal as they ended a four-match winless run but Ten Hag’s side have now scored at least two and conceded at least two in each of their last five in all competitions.

Asked what Brailsford and Wilcox might make of such chaos, Ten Hag countered: "We were totally in control. I’ve seen a different game, sorry.

"We had two giveaways, two times we were behind so we talk about two negatives – one is focus and one is discipline.

"But for the rest I think we were totally in control. The team showed resilience. It is not easy when you are losing the game but we turned it around against a compact team. We outplayed them. We were calm."

The hosts created their own problems, with Bogle punishing an error from goalkeeper Andre Onana and Brereton Diaz turning in Ben Osborn’s cut-back to restore Sheffield United’s lead five minutes after the break.

"We have to stop this process," Ten Hag added. "You can’t make such mistakes at the top level if you want to achieve your